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  #21  
Old Posted Feb 14, 2014, 7:58 PM
McBane McBane is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gfspeople View Post
I hope they re-landscape the on ramp for the Vine Street Expy directly to the east of the Mormon Tower, because right now both the uncapped Expy and the on ramp seem to suck away any cohesion this tower would provide to that area. Perhaps they could put a sculpture where the two loops split, or make the grassy area into a park separated from the highway. I think if this is successfully done, we could see North Broad making leaps and bounds in next 5 years.
It's pretty remarkable (in a shitty way) that that entrance was built as a clover-style highway entrance rather than the "parallel service road" type of highway entrance (e.g., Vine St to 676 E). Crazy to have that right in the heart of the city - you can see from the pictures how much space it wastes, an entire city block.
     
     
  #22  
Old Posted Feb 14, 2014, 8:20 PM
Kidphilly Kidphilly is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by McBane View Post
It's pretty remarkable (in a shitty way) that that entrance was built as a clover-style highway entrance rather than the "parallel service road" type of highway entrance (e.g., Vine St to 676 E). Crazy to have that right in the heart of the city - you can see from the pictures how much space it wastes, an entire city block.
I think a lot of this was due to spacing for other on and off ramps and merging


alos the WB 676 to 15th makes sense, moving them to all make a left on 15th would have had more troubles logistically. I hate it right there as well but there is more to it than just moving ramps etc.
     
     
  #23  
Old Posted Feb 15, 2014, 6:32 AM
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I think it looks great!
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  #24  
Old Posted Feb 15, 2014, 5:00 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gfspeople View Post
I hope they re-landscape the on ramp for the Vine Street Expy directly to the east of the Mormon Tower, because right now both the uncapped Expy and the on ramp seem to suck away any cohesion this tower would provide to that area. Perhaps they could put a sculpture where the two loops split, or make the grassy area into a park separated from the highway. I think if this is successfully done, we could see North Broad making leaps and bounds in next 5 years.
Meh. Much like Logan Circle is today, making 1500 block of Vine a park would just yield a fractured set of smaller "parks" with little-to-no cohesion and wildly variant usage rates. Besides, Logan Square is just two blocks away, and Baldwin Park three. Much better to let those parcels for development instead.
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  #25  
Old Posted Feb 17, 2014, 4:13 AM
MusicMan84 MusicMan84 is offline
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Context photos of the site:

Looking North on 16th:

DSCF3490 by Music_Man84, on Flickr

Looking West on Vine:

DSCF3489 by Music_Man84, on Flickr


Southwest from 16th/Wood Street:

DSCF3482 by Music_Man84, on Flickr

East from 17th/Wood:

DSCF3479 by Music_Man84, on Flickr

Adjacent Temple construction:

DSCF3477 by Music_Man84, on Flickr


DSCF3486 by Music_Man84, on Flickr
     
     
  #26  
Old Posted Feb 18, 2014, 1:32 AM
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I think the renderings of this project look quite nice, making this building a welcomed addition to the area.

I'm wondering what the smaller structure is with the steeple, west of the tower. There appears to be some kind of courtyard there. Maybe the three-story townhouses open to the courtyard?
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  #27  
Old Posted Feb 18, 2014, 1:50 AM
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Looks like Natalie Kostelni answered my question for me.

http://www.bizjournals.com/philadelp...-32-story.html
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  #28  
Old Posted Feb 21, 2014, 5:55 PM
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PHILADELPHIA | Mormon Temple Development | 116m | 380ft | 32 fl | Pro

Mormon Temple Development



Quote:
The Mormon Church will further connect Center City with North Philadelphia with the infill of a vacant lot at 16th & Vine Streets, says The Inquirer, with the constructions of a 32-story mixed-use tower (258 apartments, 13 townhouses, and retail shops). A meetinghouse, between that tower and the temple now under construction, will include a chapel, courtyard, multipurpose space, and a genealogy center. Robert A.M. Stern’s firm is responsible for the design of the additional buildings; the meetinghouse, like his design for the Museum of the American Revolution, looks to the past for its architectural cues, while the residential tower, says Mormon scholar Armand Mauss, exemplifies the modern church’s attempt for a greater inner-city presence. If granted the necessary variances, the church expects a 2016 completion date.
......
=========================================
http://hiddencityphila.org/2014/02/p...ent-announced/
BY STEVE CURRALL

Last edited by chris08876; Feb 21, 2014 at 6:05 PM.
     
     
  #29  
Old Posted Feb 21, 2014, 6:05 PM
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Changing Skyline: Mormon development combines civic-mindedness, awful architecture




Quote:
So, both the meeting house and the 32-story tower will be faced in brick - the hand-laid kind, in the case of the meetinghouse. Unlike virtually every other developer working in the city, the Mormons are willing to pay a premium to bury the parking for the tower and the temple, ensuring that these two blocks of the city will be welcoming to pedestrians.

To persuade people to trek across I-676, the Mormons instructed Paul Whalen, their architect at Stern, to wrap the tower's entire base in shops and townhouse-size buildings. There are no blank walls. And they're not even asking for subsidies.

These decisions would be remarkable enough if the site were on a choice Center City corner, but it's next to a highway cloverleaf - the ultimate modern condition. It's separated from the vibrant Spring Garden neighborhood by Callowhill Street's Great Wall of parking garages, and the east side of 16th Street has no sidewalks. There is no there there, but the Mormons are determined to create one.

You can't tell any of this by looking at the renderings, so I reached out to Tom King, who runs the church's real estate investment arm. The church, which claims to be gaining 300,000 members a year worldwide, has become a successful developer, thanks in part to its members' willingness to tithe 10 percent of their incomes.

It's a business model that encourages a certain kind of quality. Since the Mormons finance their own projects, and don't flip them to big holding companies, they're willing to spend more up front to make their buildings last. If only more Philadelphia developers adopted that approach.

Because of the temple, the church decided the surrounding area needed upgrading. This isn't charity, King said. Philadelphia's rental market is strong and the tower will be a purely commercial project. Anyone can rent a unit.

Instead of creating a drive-in fortress, they understood the building would be more marketable if residents felt connected to Center City. Despite the presence of the cloverleaf, they noticed a steady parade of pedestrians on 16th Street. By lining the east side of the tower podium with retail, they'll encourage more.
.......
=======================================
http://www.philly.com/philly/home/20...odgepodge.html
Friday, February 21, 2014, 1:09 AM
Inga Saffron, Inquirer Architecture Critic
     
     
  #30  
Old Posted Feb 21, 2014, 7:44 PM
christof christof is offline
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Inga being Inga, again.
     
     
  #31  
Old Posted Feb 21, 2014, 7:53 PM
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When I saw this, I thought the Mormon Temple was proposing another development! Lol. There is already a thread for this... it is titled 1601 Vine. Hopefully Hammer can merge this thread with that one. Glad to see it will be 380 feet. That is a significant height for the area.
     
     
  #32  
Old Posted Feb 21, 2014, 8:43 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by summersm343 View Post
When I saw this, I thought the Mormon Temple was proposing another development! Lol. There is already a thread for this... it is titled 1601 Vine. Hopefully Hammer can merge this thread with that one. Glad to see it will be 380 feet. That is a significant height for the area.
Ah, yea a merge would be good. I was looking for it before I posted but did not see it.
     
     
  #33  
Old Posted Feb 22, 2014, 3:38 AM
middeljohn middeljohn is offline
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As much as it's a nice looking building, I'm happy it's not being built in Toronto, as there's sure to be a lot of baggage to come with it.
     
     
  #34  
Old Posted Feb 22, 2014, 5:41 AM
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Originally Posted by middeljohn View Post
As much as it's a nice looking building, I'm happy it's not being built in Toronto, as there's sure to be a lot of baggage to come with it.
*delete*
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  #35  
Old Posted Feb 22, 2014, 6:27 AM
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Cro Burnham Cro Burnham is offline
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Originally Posted by middeljohn View Post
As much as it's a nice looking building, I'm happy it's not being built in Toronto, as there's sure to be a lot of baggage to come with it.
We are very happy for you too. How's London, Ontario?
     
     
  #36  
Old Posted Feb 22, 2014, 3:24 PM
MikeNigh MikeNigh is offline
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Time to cap the clover leaf.
     
     
  #37  
Old Posted Feb 24, 2014, 2:34 PM
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philatonian philatonian is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by christof View Post
Inga being Inga, again.
I've never heard her that hostile. She's either having a bad day or she has personal beef with the developers. It seemed uncharacteristically harsh, even for her.
     
     
  #38  
Old Posted Feb 24, 2014, 3:51 PM
Insoluble Insoluble is offline
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Originally Posted by philatonian View Post
I've never heard her that hostile. She's either having a bad day or she has personal beef with the developers. It seemed uncharacteristically harsh, even for her.
Two things:

1) I've noticed a tendency in her to judge a project based on the name of the firm/architect rather than the specific project. Tod Williams & Tsien could design a pile of dog turds and she would love it. I don't think she needed to see anything past the name Stern before deciding she hated the architecture.

2) Inga also seems to be firmly rooted in the "anything that doesn't 100% buy into Modernist dogma and attempts to revive traditional styles is bad" camp. Since there have been numerous religious wars on this form based on this topic I'll just leave it at that.
     
     
  #39  
Old Posted Feb 24, 2014, 8:48 PM
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hammersklavier hammersklavier is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeNigh View Post
Time to cap the clover leaf.
Or develop its component parts.

...Which may be a Mormon project. Especially if the Provence proposal collapses (and it will if the casino isn't awarded to it).
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  #40  
Old Posted Feb 24, 2014, 9:04 PM
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That's a very classy residence.
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